


almost comfortable.

by DictionaryWrites



Category: Marvel
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Past Abuse, Power Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 19:25:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15419916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DictionaryWrites/pseuds/DictionaryWrites
Summary: Valkyrie sees Loki sitting on his own on the Ark.





	almost comfortable.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Valki on the Ark, post-Frostmaster?
> 
> Mmm, this is very much... pre-Valki rather than Valki, but hey ho.

Val stands with her arms crossed over her chest, standing in the doorway of the viewing room. Loki is sat in the sill of the big, square window, wrapped tightly in a blanket he can’t possibly need - he’s already complained twice that the heating controls are up too high - and staring out into the blackness of space.

He looks  _stiff_.

His back is held straight, his chin high, but he’s pressed against the side of the wall like he’s hoping it’ll just swallow him up. He looks small and a little pathetic, and Val’s instincts are mingled. On the one hand, she wants to turn on her heel, wants to stalk down the corridor and bother Banner or hole up in the mess with a drink in the hand.

On the other hand–

“Hey. Lackey. You okay?” Loki stiffens a little bit more, and then he turns his head slightly, meeting her gaze. She holds it, holds it and looks at Loki’s sharply blue gaze, at the pallidness of his already pale features, at the twist of his too-thin lips.

“I’m fine,” he says, and he turns back to the window. “Pray, leave me. I would be alone.” Val clucks her tongue, and she begins to walk forward. There’s a mess of nerves inside her belly, dragging at her chest - guilt and disgust and anger and  _discomfort_. 

“Don’t lie,” Val mutters, and she drops heavily onto the sill beside him. She barely fits next to him - this is the small window, not like the big bay window to the left of them - and she sits cross-legged, her hands in her lap. “He– He’s not gonna come after you, you know. It’s not worth the effort.”

For a long moment, Loki is silent, and then he turns to Valkyrie, offering the tiniest of wry smiles. “How  _flattering_ , Brunnhilde. Pray,  _do_  leave me, if this is the best comfort you can offer.”

Val grins, despite the discomfort and the sick anxiety twisting within her, despite– Norns, does she  _care_? Seriously? Of all the people to fucking care about, is she gonna care about  _this_ guy? Her smile fades slightly, and she says quietly, “You… Does Thor know?”

“Thor wouldn’t see the stars in the sky if you didn’t point them out to him,” Loki murmurs. His eyes are far away, and Val… What must it have been like, she wonders? She’d seen him, at parties, seen him with the Grandmaster’s hand on his hip, hesitating before taking a drink, but also  _smiling_  when the Grandmaster looked at him. And sure, sure, he’s a good actor, Val can see that, but he’d  _liked_  the Grandmaster. He’d enjoyed Sakaar.

“You miss him?” Val asks. Loki leans his head against the side of the wall again, crossing his arms a little more tightly over his chest and looking out of the ship again. Val raises her eyebrows slightly, and then mutters, “Don’t be stupid, Lackey. You–”

“I understand the situation I was in,” Loki murmurs. “I would ask you not rehash it for my benefit.”

“You deserve better than that, you know,” Val says. Loki’s expression does not change. He looks out over the stars, his expression remaining completely blank, impassive.

“Am I?” he says, finally. The twisting anxiety in Val’s chest turns abruptly to hard stone, and she touches his shoulder.

“Loki,” Val says. “ _Yes_.” He seems genuinely touched. It shows in his face, shows in the way his lips part and his jaw slackens slightly, his eyes softening as he looks at her face, and then he glances down at her arm. She drags it back. 

“Thank you,” he murmurs, seriously. He takes a hesitant pause, and then says in an undertone, “If you don’t mind… Won’t you sit with me, for a while longer?”

“Sure,” Val says immediately, before she has time to regret it. “Sure, I’ll sit with you.” He moves just slightly closer, so that the two of them are shoulder-to-shoulder, and Val can feel the cold of him radiating from him, She should say something else, she should say something…

She doesn’t.

For the longest time, they sit together in silence, and it’s actually almost comfortable. 

**Author's Note:**

> [Hit me up on Tumblr](http://dictionarywrites.tumblr.com/faq). Requests always open.


End file.
